My parents taught their children that we must always welcome people of all ethnic groups, religions, etc. to our homes, our workplaces, and our neighborhoods. As a lawyer, as a leader of civic groups, and as a member of the Wauwatosa Common Council and the Wauwatosa Civil Service Commission, I’ve worked hard to promote Wauwatosa and Milwaukee as places where all people are welcome to live, visit, and do business.
Wauwatosa is uniquely situated – by geography, business base, school population, etc. – to be an example of how Wisconsin communities can be welcoming to all. Diversity in all its forms — of housing, businesses, and people – gives us strength and makes Wauwatosa special.
In October 2019, I wrote an application to have the Wauwatosa Historic Preservation Commission (WHPC) and the Common Council designate the 113th Street home of Zeddie Hyler as a Wauwatosa landmark. Joining me as co-applicant was Gerald Williamson, Mr. Hyler’s nephew, who now owns and resides in the home. Mr. Hyler was the first African-American to build a home in Wauwatosa. On January 21, 2020, the Common Council voted to make his home a Wauwatosa landmark.
As described in “Broken Barrier: First Black to Build in Wauwatosa,” a November 2015 article in Historic Wauwatosa, the Wauwatosa Historical Society newsletter (http://www.tosaconnection.com/wauwatosa-historic-settlement-seeks-landmark-status/), Mr. Hyler displayed great courage in building and occupying his home, and led the way for Wauwatosa to become a more integrated and welcoming community. Despite attacks on his home, he persevered and lived in that home until he died in 2004. In January, the WHPC will hold a public hearing on the application filed by Mr. Williamson and me. (See “The home of the first black man to build in Wauwatosa is being considered for historic designation,” Milwaukee Journal Sentinel, November 18, 2019
I am a member of Tosa Together, a group of residents who work to ensure that Wauwatosa is a diverse and welcoming community. Among other things, in 2019 Tosa Together successfully convinced the City to create a new Equity & Inclusion Commission to act as an advisory body to the Mayor and Common Council, The Commission will provide valuable knowledge and resources to help the City welcome its growing racially and culturally diverse population, promote understanding between different groups, and identify potential problem areas that need to be addressed as the city grows and changes. Regrettably, in May 2019, one Common Council member resisted creating the Commission, calling it “politically motivated.” At a Council hearing, I challenged this statement, saying there’s nothing politically motivated about treating all people with dignity, about giving all people opportunity, and about making Wauwatosa a truly welcoming community.
For more than 24 years I worked as a Supervisory Trial Attorney and Senior Trial Attorney for the U.S. Equal Employment Opportunity Commission, which enforces federal laws prohibiting discrimination in employment based on race, sex, age, disability, religion, or color. One of my sexual harassment cases, filed in federal court in Iowa, was highlighted in the June 25, 2013, episode – titled “Race in the Fields” – on the PBS investigative series Frontline. (See https://www.pbs.org/wgbh/frontline/film/rape-in-the-fields/.) My interview begins about halfway through the hour-long program.
